


it's the sweetest thing, remembering

by intertwiningwords



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Childhood Sweethearts, Eddie Lives Fix-It, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Multi, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon Fix-It, Stan Lives Fix-It, Tickle Fights, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 04:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intertwiningwords/pseuds/intertwiningwords
Summary: everyone remembers how in love richie and eddie have always been.





	it's the sweetest thing, remembering

“How long ago did you carve this?” Eddie asked, running his fingers over the faded letters.

Richie cleared his throat, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “That summer,” he replied simply. He knew Eddie knew exactly which one he meant, the summer that everything had happened, the summer which they’d all just been forced to revisit and relive.

Eddie nodded simply, almost casually. “Could I have your knife?”

Nervously, Richie got out the pocket knife he’d brought along to re-carve the exact letters Eddie was now touching, but he hadn’t expected Eddie to be with him on the bridge. That changed his plans quite drastically, and he hadn’t even meant for Eddie to see them, or ever even know.

He was sure when he passed it over that Eddie was going to scratch the damn letters out until there was no trace left, and leave him there to mourn the loss of his first confession of love, but instead, Eddie’s fingers wrapped around his own.

Wordlessly, their hands moved in tandem, bringing the blade of the knife towards the faded carving, digging in and tracing over the lines made 27 years ago, deepening and darkening them until it looked almost brand new.

“That’s better,” Eddie said softly, smiling down at their work like a boy proud of his finger painting.

Richie turned his head, his eyes wide and cheeks flushed, confused and surprised and completely taken off-guard, and  _ fuck it _ , he parted his lips and leaned in closer, and before he could seal the deal himself, Eddie was capturing his mouth in a kiss.

They kissed eagerly, a little awkwardly, like fumbling teenagers, giddy and a little out of their comfort zones, but it was so goddamn worth it. The pocket knife slipped through their intertwined fingers and onto the ground by their feet, but neither man seemed to even notice.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Richie whispered when they pulled apart.

“27 years?” Eddie asked, his tone slightly teasing, eyebrows raised.

Richie grinned, shoving Eddie’s shoulder lightly. “Longer,” he admitted.

With a roll of his eyes, Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “I have too, you idiot. When I saw you at the restaurant, it all came flooding back...It helps that you definitely grew into your looks though.”

Richie actually blushed at that, a rare occurrence that only Eddie seemed to cause, and shook his head. “Says you, Eddie-spaghetti.”

“God, I thought you’d forgotten about that awful nickname,” Eddie groaned.

“I had, until just now.”

“I wish you hadn’t remembered.”

“I’m glad I did,” Richie replied, and before Eddie could protest, he pulled him in for another kiss.

***

“Myra, stop it. I’ll be back for the meetings with the lawyer, you’ll see me then, but my decision is final, and you’re not going to lure me back in. I’m hanging up now, and please don’t call me back. Goodbye.”

Richie grimaced sympathetically as Eddie tossed his phone to the side. Sitting up in bed, he moved forward and wrapped his arms around the smaller man from behind, careful to avoid the still healing mark on his chest which was forming a rather interestingly-shaped scar.

“Why couldn’t you have been around ten years ago to stop me from marrying her, huh?”

Snorting, Richie shook his head. “I wish I had, babe.”

Letting out a groan, Eddie leaned back against Richie’s chest, and Richie pressed a soft kiss into the crook of his neck.

He squirmed. “Your stubble tickles,” he complained.

“Oh, does it?”

“Richie, don’t you da—!” his threat was cut short by his own shriek of laughter.

“I can’t believe I forgot about this,” Richie grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes.

“I wish you’d never remembered!” Eddie choked out, managing to wriggle his way out of his boyfriend’s hold. “You’re the fucking  _ worst _ .”

“Aw, you don’t mean that,” the aforementioned boyfriend pouted, but the amusement was still clear on his face.

“I guess I don’t,” Eddie conceded. “But I just remembered something myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I remembered that you were  _ way  _ more ticklish than me.”

Richie’s eyes went wide, but he had no chance to make a break for it, and wound up giggling like a child beneath Eddie’s fingers.

He couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed about that memory.

***

“Do you remember when you first realized?” Eddie asked one evening, his head resting in Richie’s lap.

“That I liked guys, or, like, you specifically?”

“Both? If you wanna share.”

Richie smiled down at him, running fingers through his hair. “I always kind of knew, I mean...I knew that I found guys attractive in a way that I thought you, Stan, and Bill didn’t.”

“And you were dead wrong,” Eddie added teasingly, and Richie playfully poked his nose.

“You asked me to tell a story, so no interrupting. Anyway, Stan was like my best friend but when we became friends with you and Bill, I knew something about you felt...different. You always felt different. I never got embarrassed around Stan or Bill, and I never wanted to impress them either. But you were a whole other story.”

Eddie had propped himself up now, listening intently. There was a ghost of a smile on his face as he listened, a fond and frankly smitten kind of smile that would have made Richie  _ melt _ , had he been looking.

“I tried to ignore it, but as we got older, you just got fuckin’ cuter, and by twelve I was starting to have a bit of gay panic. I only ever really had a crush on one other guy before I realized that I was in love with you. And even though I forgot for 27 years, I always felt like something... _ someone _ was missing.”

Eddie’s heart fluttered. “That’s incredibly cheesy and romantic of you...But I’m curious about the other boy now.”

Richie chuckled. “It was dumb. I played Street Fighter with him every day for like a week straight. He had curly hair. But nothing ever came of it, of course.”

Eddie nodded. “Well, his loss.”

Grinning, Richie leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Your turn.”

“Huh?”

“When did you know?”

Eddie flushed. “Well, like you, I kind of always felt like there was something different about me and how I felt around you guys. Like, Bill and Ben drooling over Bev confused me. I mean, I think she’s gorgeous, of course, but I just...Never really let myself have a crush on anyone because love and sex and all that scared the shit out of me. I mean, you know, until we...That was my first time.”

Richie’s lips twitched as if he was going to crack a joke, but bit it back. He’d gotten much better at knowing when it was appropriate to be funny and when to shut up. Eddie appreciated it.

“I felt really behind everyone, but every time I tried to catch up, it felt like something was holding me back. And, I think that was that I knew I was in love with someone the whole time, and I just hadn’t figured it out yet.”

He looked up to meet Richie’s eyes and found that they looked almost misty behind his glasses.

“Dude, did that just make you cry?”

“No,” Richie replied quickly, blinking. “I’m not the sappy one here.”

“You totally are.”

Richie opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. “I guess. But only for you.”

***

Like Ben and Bev, they didn’t want to make a big deal of anything. 

It was the other five losers, Patty and Audra, Richie’s sister and his manager, and two of Eddie’s friends from college who watched them get married on a summer evening.

“I remember when we were kids,” Mike began his toast, a glass of champagne in his hand, “and we had this clubhouse that Ben built us. There was this really flimsy hammock in there that none of us wanted to sit in except Richie. And even after complaining about how dangerous it was, once Richie sat in it, all of a sudden, Eddie wanted a turn. I remember watching them bicker over it until Eddie just climbed right in with him, and just thinking how they looked like an old married couple every time they fought over something so small like that. And now, we’re all old, and finally, you two idiots are married. Here’s to many more hours of bickering.”

Beverly made hers next. “I like to think that I was always the most intuitive member of the losers club, although that might just be me having a big head. I always knew that Rich and Eddie had something special between them, but you know, it was a different time then, so I wrote it off as a friendship. I think the moment it dawned on me though was one day, we were sixteen, and Richie and I were smoking. Now, I had never in my life seen Richie waste a cigarette until he’d smoked it down to the end, but Eddie was early meeting up with us, and the minute Richie saw him, he stomped that sucker out quicker than I could blink, and then he shot me a look as if I should do the same thing. Eddie wrinkled his nose and said those things would give us lung cancer, and that we stunk of smoke. Next time I offered Richie a cigarette, he said he was going cold turkey. And I just remember thinking, ‘oh, he loves Eddie. That’s why he’s quitting,’ and now, standing here, I’m proud to say that I was totally right, as usual, so thank you, Richie and Eddie, for boosting my ego even further, and for being the cutest damn couple I’ve ever seen.”

Ben went next. “I didn’t have friends until I moved to Maine and met the people I still call my best friends almost thirty years later. When I saw Richie and Eddie and the way they acted together, I thought that they had just been friends for so long, they were closer than everyone else. However, as I got to know them, I learned that they had only been friends for a few years before I came around. They were so close, and so in sync, and they always knew how to piss the other off or make them laugh. It was more than friendship, I realized later, watching what they had. I truly believe that you guys are soulmates, and I am so glad that you allowed me to watch you guys fall in love, even if none of us were aware of it until recently.”

“As Bev said, I pride myself on being pretty intuitive,” Stan began. “And pardon my French, but I called this shit back in middle school. You know that thing they tell little girls, that if a boy is mean to you, it means he likes you? That’s exactly how Richie and Eddie were. But when you watched them, you could tell that they didn’t mean a word of it. Their pushes were always gentle, their insults always delivered with a grin. Not once in our whole friendship have I seen them fight past their weird bickering-foreplay. Instead, I’ve seen them comfort one another, and protect each other, and love each other endlessly and unconditionally. Congratulations, guys, I love you both.”

And last but not least, Bill. “Mike and I had a bet after we had our little reunion over how long it would take you guys to finally get together. He won, so fuck you guys. No, but seriously, I am so happy for you two. Everyone has brought up memories from when we were kids, but I want to talk about when we all met up again at that restaurant, and the minute you two locked eyes after having not seen each other for all those years, I immediately knew that nothing had changed. You two fell right back into your little unspoken routine, joking and always sitting next to each other at the table. I don’t know how I lost that stupid bet, because clearly I was pretty in-tune with your budding romance. Cheers, guys. Love you.”

The night was full of friends, love, and laughter, and there were plenty of new, beautiful memories made. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading i hope you enjoyed!!!!!!! feedback is v appreciated thnx ok bye xoxoxo


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